Knife for nail-cutting machines



- (No Model.)

z.fw. DEAN. KNIFE FOR NAIL CUTTING MAGHINES. No. 355,055.

Patented De0.-28, 1886.

WzLtn/ 8eo. [War I UNITED STATES PATENT Gr mes.

ZADOK WESTON DEAN, OF WHITE ASH, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES LuFITZ- HUGH, OF ALLEGHENY CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

KNIFE FOR NA|L=CUTTING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,065, dated December 28, 1886.

I Application filed November 17, 1886. Serial No. 219,109. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, ZADOK WEsroN DEAN, of White Ash, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented-a new and useful Improvement in Knives for Nail- Cutting Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

In the manufacture of cut chisel-pointed nails the ordinary form of nail-cutting machine has been used but,instead of the straight knives used for cutting the ordinary blunt nail, knives of a proper shape to cut a headed and pointed blank have been employed.

In Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings the form of the cutting-edges of the knives last referred to will be seen. Here a is the moving knife, and b the fixed or bed knife. The

' edges 2, which form the tapered sides of the nail, extend at a proper angle for that purpose. At the ends of the edges 2 are short bevels 3 4, for forming the points and heads of the nail-blank.

In Fig. 2 the action of these knives on anailplate is illustrated The end of the plate 0 being placed between the knives a and b a scrap, 5, is cut off. This forms one edge of a blank on the end of the plate '0, as shown. Then the plate is reversed in the usual way 0 and inserted between the knives, which at their second cut sever the first nail-blank, 6, and form the outer edge of the next nail-blank. The blanks thus made, if desired, may be used as brads, but, if preferred, the large end may be upset on the cutting-machine by the act-ion of the'header, so as to form a button or upset head.

The knives of nail-cutting machines are made of steel of various kinds, and, except when made of Mushet steel, require to be taken off of the machine and ground or sharpened at least once in two hours. This necessarily involves a considerable loss of time and labor, and thereby increases the cost of manufacture of the nails. The use of Mushet steel in the manufacture of these knives reduces this loss considerably, because it is so hard and enduring that the knives will carry a cutting-edge much longer than when made 50 of other steels.

Knives of the form shown in Fig. 1 cannot be ground, because it is impossible to get into thecorner 7 with a stone or emery-wheel, and when it is attempted the corner is ground out rounding and the cutting-edge is made uneven. This destroys the knife. The only Way to sharpen knives of this form is to plane them; but this is objectionable, because the edge thus formed is neither very smooth nor true and consequently does not produce a perfeet nail. With Mushet steel planing is impossible, because the steel is so hard that the planing-knives cannot cut it. The result has been that Mushet steel could not be used in the manufacture of knives like those shownin 6 5 Fig. 1, and that owing to the mannerin which such knives had to be sharpened the quality of the nails has not been the best, so that the advantage of the above-described method of making chiselpointed nails has not been fully enjoyed.

My invention consists in forming the irregular-shaped knives a and b of several pieces or blades, so that the cutting-edge of each piece shall be straight, whereby the same may be ground on an ordinary straight-faced stone or wheel.. This also enables meto use Mushet steel in the manufacture of these knives. The several parts or blades of each knife are secured together in proper relation to each other, by clamps, wedges, or otherwise, in their-proper bed-plates in the nail-machine. i

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now describe'it by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figurel is a plan View of the old form of moving and bed knives, showing the shape of the cutting-edges. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a nail-plate, illustrating the operation of the knives. Fig. 3 shows a side and end view of my improved moving knife. Fig. 4 is a top side view of my improved bed-knife.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts a r in each. 5

The knives shown in Figs. 8 and 4 are the same in shape and operation as the knives or and b in Fig. l; but, instead of being formed of a single 'piece, the moving knife I) is composed of two blades, d (Z and the bed-knife E of two blades, e 6 the line of division being at the corners 7, formed by the junction of the edges 2 with the inner bevels, 3. This div-ision makes the cutting edges of the blades d e to consist of the'straight edges'2 and the outer bevels, 4, and the cutting-edges of the blades d e to consist of the bevels 3. These are all straight surfaces or edges and can be ground to any desired angle on aflat-faced stone or wheel. The blades constituting the knives D E are secured together in the cuttinglever and bed by clamps, wedges, or other usual devices for that purpose.

The knives D E stand in reversed positions, so that the inwardly-beveled blade (61 or e) of one shall. be opposite to the outward bevel (d or e) of theother, whereby one side of the nail shall be properly formed at each cut, notwithstanding the reversal of the plate. In grinding, the meeting edges of the knives are made exact counterparts. "By thus constructing the knives I am enabled to use Mushet steel in their manufacture, thereby gaining the advantage of great durability and saving time and labor. I am also enabled to secure in a knife for cutting headed and chisel-pointed nails or nail blanks true-and smooth cuttingedges, and thus obtain a perfect product.

What I claim as my inventiomand desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-= 1. A machine=knife for cutting bevel-pointed nails, composed of two blades, being divided longitudinally at the intersection of the bevel which cuts the side of the point with the edge which forms the side'of the nail, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination, in a machine for out ting nails, of a moving knife having a cuttingedge, one end of which is beveled inwardly and the other outwardly, said knife being composed of two blades, being divided longitudinally at the junction between the inward bevel and the cutting-edge, with a similarlyformed bed-knife, which is reversely arranged, so that the inwardly-beveled blades shall be opposed to the outward bevels on the other knives, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 6th day of November, A. D. 1886.

ZADOK wnsron DEAN.

Witnesses:

W. B. OoRwIN, THOMAS W. BAKEWELL. 

